Referral income: a promoter can profit when you overtrade

Referral programmes can pay for registrations, deposits, trading fees or other activity. The exact trigger matters. A creator paid from trading fees may earn more when followers trade frequently, regardless of whether those followers make money.

A simple comparison

Suppose two users generate the same fee volume. One earns a profit and the other loses. A fee-based referrer may receive the same payment from both. This is an illustrative incentive model; actual programme terms differ. It explains why a referral relationship should be disclosed rather than assumed to align with the user's result.

Assess the recommendation separately from the discount. A fee rebate does not establish that a platform, leverage level or strategy is appropriate. More trades can still create more total fees despite a lower rate.

MASTR's Survival Guide raises this issue alongside copy trading: the platform, lead trader, referrer and follower may all earn or lose under different conditions. Document those roles before comparing performance. Read the copy-trading study and liquidation risk.

来源

1. MASTR: Crypto Survival Guide, four original panels
2. MASTR: copy-trading research snapshot, 9 August 2026

资料核对日期：2026年9月5日. Historical cases retain the date and legal status of the cited record.